Mathematics for the interested outsider

Joint Meetings 2009 — Day 4

Sorry for not posting yesterday, but I was sort of run-down. I”m taking today as a break before I join Knots in Washington tomorrow, already in progress. Anyhow, the last day of the Joint Meetings is always slow, and there’s nothing much for me to talk about here. Instead, I’ll put up some pictures.
I had lunch at Petits Plats during the conference. First there was the Wild Mushroom Ravioli:

Wild Mushroom Ravioli

and then the Salmon Provençale, paired with a 2007 Château de Castelneau Sauvignon Blanc:

Salmon Provençale

The walls had a lot of art like this orange tree:

A painting of an orange tree

And each dining room has a working fireplace. My room’s mantel was covered with this sort of thing:

Mantel Pieces

Back at the Meetings, Helamon Ferguson was there as usual. He had these things hanging from the ceiling:

Ferguson Sculpture 1

Ferguson Sculpture 2

Then down on the tables were a bunch of his greatest hits:

Ferguson Table 1

Ferguson Table 2

This year, he brought along his diamond chainsaw!

Ferguson's Chainsaw

And a picture of him using it:

Ferguson Chainsawing

Finally, on my way to Adams Morgan (avoiding the conference press at the Woodley Park restaurants) I passed this restaurant, which I thought John Baez would love:

Mama Ayesha's

Definitely click this last one to embiggen, and see all the neat patters in the metalwork.

About this weblog

This is mainly an expository blath, with occasional high-level excursions, humorous observations, rants, and musings. The main-line exposition should be accessible to the “Generally Interested Lay Audience”, as long as you trace the links back towards the basics. Check the sidebar for specific topics (under “Categories”).

I’m in the process of tweaking some aspects of the site to make it easier to refer back to older topics, so try to make the best of it for now.